Of all these countries the most important is our own land of India. As you know, it has three hundred million people. Here we have a map of India and of the allied states, Afghanistan and Nepal. You see upon it in the darker tint of red the territories which are immediately under the British Government, and you see also in the lighter tint the Native States, ruled by their own chiefs, although protected by the British Raj. In no other part of the world do we find peace secure from end to end of a vast territory, and yet within it great states ruled by their own chiefs, as in Kashmir, Rajputana, Central India, Haidarabad, and Mysore. Some of the principal countries of Europe are little larger than some of the Native States of India, yet the continent of Europe is full of armaments, and there is always danger of war there. India owes to the British Raj peace for a fifth of the human race, and yet the different laws, languages, and religions have been preserved, so that the people of each part and of each race are able to live according to their own historic customs. [Sidenote: 3. The Himalayas.] India lies between the mountains and the ocean. Along one-half of her land frontier the highest range of mountains in the world makes a great rampart, defending her from invasion. The railways which now extend through the whole land not only help to prevent death from starvation when the harvests fail, but also enable the Indian Government to concentrate the army quickly for the defence of the only portions of the frontier of India by which invasion is possible. In 1738, Nadir, Shah of Persia, invaded India, took Delhi and slew one hundred thousand of the people. In 1761, Ahmed, Shah of Afghanistan, invaded India and defeated the Mahrathas in the great battle of Panipat, almost at the gates of Delhi. After that time the British Raj grew up, and no foreign enemy has since been able to disturb the peace of India. Who can measure the value of peace for the millions of our people? There are nearly 730,000 villages in India: without peace they could not reap their harvests. There are over 2,000 towns in India: without peace their trade would be ruined. [Sidenote: 4. The Ocean: The Surf at Madras.] But we must not forget that more than one-half of the boundary of India is washed by the waves of the great sea. Why is it that we need not maintain great armies along the coast of India? The water of the ocean spreads round all the lands of the world, and enemies from many lands might come in ships to attack us. The reason why we need give little thought to the defence of our shores is that the British Fleet is strong, and is ready in distant parts of the ocean to fight with any hostile fleet that might set out to invade India. No rule in India has ever before had the advantage of peace on the ocean. The Emperors at Delhi in former centuries were obliged to pay for an Abyssinian Fleet to give some protection to their shores.